Every year AFN honors those who have made outstanding contributions to their families and the Native community. Congratulations to recipient of the Roger Lang Youth Award – local youth leader and organizer Ben Anderson-Agimuk of Chevak, Tununak, and Bethel. Please read on for a list of this year’s AFN President’s Awards honorees.
Roger Lang Youth Leadership
Ben Anderson-Agimuk
Ben Nemqerralria Anderson-Agimuk, who is Yup’ik, grew up in Chevak, Tununak, Bethel, Anchorage and Napakiak, and is a tribal citizen of the Native Community of Chevak. His mother is Susie Anderson (Agimuk) from Tununak. After graduating from Chevak School in 2011, he studied Political Science and Alaska Native Law, Policy, and Government at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he served as President of the Native Student Union and Chair of the Student Senate. He discovered his leadership calling at the University and in the surrounding Fairbanks area, mentored by the Interior’s university and community indigenous leaders. Ben was the Alaska Native Constituency Organizer in Anchorage for Mark Begich’s 2014 Senate race, and has stayed politically and civically engaged in Alaska Native, environmental and student issues since then, volunteer and paid. He interned with Calista Corporation Summer Internship Program in Government Relations in 2015, and participated in the 2016 First Alaskans Institute Summer Internship Program with the State of Alaska Division of Elections. In 2017, he moved to Bethel, and after interning with the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Commission, he served as a Legislative Aide to former Representative Zach Fansler in both Juneau and Bethel. At the beginning of 2017, he was elected as Chair of the District 38 Alaska Democratic Party, where he was tasked with leading the replacement process for the vacant State House seat representing the YK Delta. He is currently splitting his time between Bethel and Juneau as Legislative Aide to Representative Tiffany Zulkosky, as well as Campaign Manager for Elect Tiffany Zulkosky.